Tuesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 11/19/2013

Mandatory paid sick leave battle heating up

Florida has a public health motivation for imposing paid sick-leave mandates on private employers, a task force created by state lawmakers was told today. The panel has to report back to the Legislature in January on whether the state should follow the lead of Connecticut by requiring employers to offer a minimum number of paid sick-days. More at the Orlando Sentinel.

Lazy days of summer? Not for Florida's lobbying industry

The Capitol hallways and committee rooms were mostly quiet in July, August and September. What’s more, the full slate of legislative elections was still a year away. But that relative calm did not stop the business of lobbying. More at the Jacksonville Business Journal.

iSirona announces 300 new jobs in Panama City

Business Profile

LiveNinja offers online experts

Miami-based startup LiveNinja offers online experts in a wide range of fields. The six-person company, which won the Miami Startup World competition at the Venture Hive incubator this year, has raised more than $500,000. It makes money by taking a 20% commission on the fees its “ninjas” earn.

iSirona is a medical software company that headquartered in Panama City in 2008 and hasn’t stopped growing since. iSirona’s roughly 200 current employees joined state and local officials Monday, including Gov. Rick Scott, to announce plans to create 300 new jobs at its Panama City headquarters over the next three years. More at the News Herald.

With increases in federal flood insurance rates looming, two insurance providers have said they are prepared to sell private flood policies in Florida. More than two million Florida residents are covered through the National Flood Insurance Program, which is about 37 percent of the NFIP’s market and $1 billion in premiums. More at the Insurance Journal.

The Small Business Owner’s Retirement Dilemma

You’ve poured a lifetime of sweat, time and capital into building your business. You’ve begun thinking about retirement, and your strategy is to sell your company for a good price, settle back and enjoy a financially secure retirement. But, like many business owners, you’ve made the mistake of assuming this scenario will happen, and you haven’t bothered to make any other retirement plans. More at the North Central Florida Business Report.

Entertainment Movies Plus

Southeast Florida is fertile ground for entrepreneurs pushing innovation in movie theaters. Earlier this year, Bruce Frank, CEO of Jupiter-based Frank Entertainment, opened his CineBowl & Grille in Delray Beach. In addition to an IMAX theater, CineBowl features bowling, an arcade, an upscale restaurant called the Red Brick Grille, two bars and Frank’s proprietary large-screen projection and sound system.

Nobody crashed in Monday’s first hours of the new “wrong way” interchange in Miami. But that’s because Miami cops guided confused drivers in the manner of a first-grade teacher keeping wayward students in line on the first day of school.